Singer D4vd drops private attorneys for public defender in murder case

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Set us as preferred The singer D4vd has dropped his high-powered legal team and will now be represented by the Los Angeles County public defender’s office on charges that he repeatedly sexually assaulted a teenage fan before killing her and dismembering her corpse to cover up the sex abuse.David Anthony Burke, 21, asked to have the public defender’s office replace his defense team of Blair Berk and Marilyn Bednarski ahead of a Monday morning hearing, Berk said in court.She did not say why he sought the switch, but Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo granted his request.

Burke split from attorneys Bednarski and Berk — who have represented a number of high-profile clients including Harvey Weinstein and L.A.labor union leader David Huerta — following a decision to rush into a preliminary hearing earlier this year, just months after Burke was arrested and charged with Hernandez’s murder.Monday’s court appearance was a post-preliminary hearing in which Burke pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.It can sometimes take years for a murder trial to reach a preliminary hearing, the first milestone in a case where prosecutors must present enough evidence to convince a judge the case can proceed to trial.Burke’s team demanded an immediate preliminary hearing.

In July, prosecutors put forth a week’s worth of evidence against Burke, including years of text messages that laid out Burke and Hernandez’s illegal sexual relationship in explicit detail, receipts showing online orders for a number of tools that could be used for body disposal, and forensic analyses that showed evidence of blood in his garage.Prosecutors have long suspected Burke used a chainsaw to sever Hernandez’s limbs in his garage last April and tried to collect the blood in a kiddie pool.He also allegedly amputated two of hi...